Listening is not an easy thing to do.
It's more than just hearing.
True listening requires us to open ourselves up to another person's experience so that that person is truly seen and heard.
Philosopher Martin Buber is known for explaining the I-Thou relationship as opposed to the I-It relationship,
Which basically means we see someone for who they are and not just as an object.
Buber describes listening as something we do with our full selves by sensing and feeling what another person is trying to convey so that together we can remove the barrier between us.
In this week's Torah portion,
Ki Tavo,
The Jewish people learn about the blessings and the curses before going into the land of Israel.
Moshe says to the people,
Be silent,
Israel,
And listen before he mentions the blessing and the curses.
It's not just about hearing or even obeying.
It's about understanding and truly internalizing and making the right choices and learning from the wrong ones.
When we received the Torah in Mount Sinai,
We heard the blast of the shofar and said,
We will listen to the commandments of the Torah.
And one of our most important prayers that we recite three times a day starts with Shema Yisrael,
Hear,
O Israel.
On Rosh Hashanah,
The Jewish New Year,
Which is approaching,
The only commandment we have is to hear the shofar.
Hearing the shofar is intended to wake us up and examine all our deeds from the past year.
It could also be understood as pay attention.
What is it about hearing that's so important compared to the other senses?
According to Seth Horowitz,
Neuroscientist and author of The Universal Sense,
Hearing is an underrated sense.
Hearing and sound shape the mind and affect the way we think,
Feel,
And act.
He explains much of the emotional impact of sound dwells beneath conscious thought.
Hearing is the fastest of all senses.
We process sound much faster than sight.
It also is the only sense that allows us to perceive the world at the greatest distance away.
Mindful meditation is often practiced with the breath as the object of our focus.
Sound meditation uses sound as our object of focus.
Just as we use the breath to anchor us in the present moment,
We use sound to keep us in the here and now.
Let's try the sound meditation together.
Sound meditation can be practiced indoors or outdoors.
So,
Settling in,
Making sure you're comfortable,
If you're sitting,
Sitting straight,
Shoulders relaxed,
You can sit,
You can lie down,
Whatever keeps you most alert.
You can close your eyes,
Or you can lower your gaze to a spot in front of you.
Noticing the points of contact that your body is making with the chair or the surface you're sitting or lying on.
And noticing if you're holding any tension in your body.
So,
Taking a moment to check.
Just doing a quick scan through your body,
Different areas in your body.
And also seeing if you can let go of any tension,
As you allow your body to be supported by the chair or the mat or the floor.
And just as an awareness of the breath meditation,
When our attention gets pulled away,
We gently refocus on sound or sounds.
Follow the instructions as best as you can.
I'll leave spaces with no talking for you to practice.
And bringing attention to your breath.
Allowing the breath to move all the way down to your stomach.
Not forcing your breath in any way,
But allowing your body to breathe naturally and at its own pace.
And noticing where you feel the breath most in your body.
Maybe your stomach,
Or your chest,
Or your nose or nostrils.
So,
Taking a moment to notice.
Can you hear your breath entering and leaving your body?
Resting your attention on the sound of your breath.
Anytime your attention wanders,
Bringing it back to the sound or sounds as many times as you need to.
Imagining that all exists is the sound of your breath.
You can continue noticing the sound of your breath as you breathe in and you breathe out.
And expanding your awareness and paying attention to the sounds in the room around you.
And if there's no sounds,
Then noticing that.
Noticing sounds around you,
Sounds from within you and your body,
Such as your breath.
Being fully open and curious to any sounds around you or within you.
And being aware of hearing at this moment.
How sounds just come to our ears.
We don't have to do anything or make any effort.
We do this practice without judging the sounds.
This is good,
This is bad.
We try not to get caught up in the sounds.
Just allowing them to come and to go.
Being aware of sound and the space between the sounds.
Being aware of silence.
At any point if you notice that your mind is distracted,
That's okay.
Gently but firmly bringing your attention back to your ears and to hearing whatever is in your awareness right now.
Just allowing any sounds to come to us on their own.
And being curious about the sounds.
Their volume,
Their pitch,
Their length.
Do they change?
Do they stay the same?
Being present to whatever sounds are here right now.
And allowing any sounds to wash over you,
Pass through you.
Imagining the sounds in your field of awareness.
Just passing through.
And taking just a few more moments to observe your hearing and observe sounds around you and within you.
And maybe feeling some gratitude for all that our ears do for us,
For everything we hear.
Maybe imagining a sound that we enjoy and brings a smile to our face.
Feel free to continue this practice noticing sounds and sound without judging the sounds.
And also feel free to return your attention to your breath.
Just resting here for a few more moments before we come to the end of this practice.
Hearing the sound of your breath.
Maybe making an intention to do this practice on a regular basis if you found it helpful.
And maybe making an intention of how we'd like to listen to others,
To ourselves.
May we merit a year in which we can truly listen to each other and remove any barriers between us and appreciate all our senses and sounds around us.
Shana Tova.
Happy New Year.
